


Save the Last One

by Windstorms



Series: Darkness Falls verse [2]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Apocalypse, Exes, Getting Back Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Protective Jensen Ackles, Sick Jared Padalecki, Slow Burn, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:21:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23300008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windstorms/pseuds/Windstorms
Summary: It starts out as a cough.
Relationships: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Series: Darkness Falls verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1437922
Comments: 14
Kudos: 25





	Save the Last One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nicklovessn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicklovessn/gifts).



> This fic is for my dear friend Ale, who wanted some hurt or sick Jared and protective Jensen.

It starts out as a cough. 

Jensen doesn’t think much of it at first. Jared tells him he’s fine; he’s just feeling a little under the weather and it’s nothing to worry about. They’ve been unable to find any indoor shelter so they’ve been sleeping outside for almost a week.

The nights are turning colder as the summer gradually gives way to autumn. They’ve been able to build a fire most nights, but one day it had rained all day, and by nightfall the wood was far too wet to set any of it alight. 

A few days after that, Jared starts coughing. It’s a dry cough at first, and Jensen is dumb enough to believe Jared when he tells him not to worry. 

It’s a decision that soon comes back to haunt him.

*

“Hey.”

Jensen grunts and rolls over away from the noise, hoping the voice will go away.

No such luck. Something jabs him in the side, hard. It feels like someone is jabbing their boot into his ribs. “Wake up, dumbass.”

Jensen sighs at Chad’s voice. “What is it?” He stifles a yawn and blinks a few times. It’s still dark. The camp is quiet other than for Chad’s disruption.

Chad crouches down beside him. “It’s Jared.”

That gets Jensen’s full attention immediately. “What happened?”

“It’s time for his watch, but I can’t wake him up.”

Jensen can tell by Chad’s tone how concerned he is. Jensen had taken the first watch, so he wouldn’t be waking Jensen up now if it wasn’t something serious. “Shit,” Jensen mutters under his breath.

“I’m sorry man. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“No, it’s okay. You did the right thing,” Jensen assures him. Even while he’s saying it, he isn’t sure that’s true. He has no idea what he can do for Jared that Chad can’t, but he’s still grateful Chad woke him up. 

He sits up and quickly climbs to his feet, ignoring how stiff his back muscles are from several nights of sleeping on the ground.

He easily spots Jared’s prone form across the campsite. His broad back is to the fire. His head is propped up on a couple of crumpled up shirts, and his jacket is draped across his shoulders.

The first thing Jensen notices as he approaches Jared is that he’s too still. Jensen kneels on the ground to assess Jared. His breathing is shallow. His brow is furrowed as if he’s in distress and his mouth is slightly open; it appears he’s short of breath even in his sleep. His face looks flushed even in the firelight. Jensen would bet all the money he no longer has on him having a fever. Jensen feels his anxiety settle in a little deeper. 

Jensen lays his hand on Jared’s bicep and shakes his arm lightly. “Hey Jared. Time to wake up.” He has no intention of letting him keep watch right now, but he wants to make sure he’s okay. He needs Jared to be okay.

Jared doesn’t stir. Jensen feels his stomach tighten. Jared’s always been a light sleeper. It’s Jensen that could sleep through a nuclear explosion. 

Until the world went and almost ended, and he adjusted.

He remembers so many mornings of waking to find Jared already up and about. Jared would usually wake up before dawn and go running with his dogs. He’d come back and make coffee for Jensen before climbing into the shower. Jensen has a lot of good memories of waking up to a freshly showered Jared bringing him coffee in bed and greeting him with a teasing smile.

Now it’s Jensen trying to wake Jared up in the middle of the night. They’re camping out in the middle of nowhere instead of living safely inside Jared’s house, _their_ house. Staying in a wooded camp instead of their cozy bedroom. Sleeping apart on the ground instead of sharing their big warm bed. 

Jensen shakes himself out of it. He has to focus on what’s happening right now. Jared needs him here in the present, not daydreaming and moping over their past. He grips Jared’s arm tighter and shakes him more firmly. “Jared. Jared, come on.”

Jared’s eyelids flutter, but he doesn’t respond. “See what I mean?” Chad says.

Jensen nods and leans closer to Jared. He feels his forehead with the back of his hand. Jensen winces. He was right. Jared’s burning up with fever. He pats Jared’s cheek gently and calls his name again. 

“Mmph,” Jared moans. It’s not much, but it’s a start.

Jensen barely resists the urge to stroke some of the sweat-damp hair away from Jared’s face. He reminds himself Chad is watching. Instead, he pushes aside Jared’s jacket and fumbles through two layers of shirts to grab Jared’s wrist and press his fingers against his pulse. His heartbeat is steady, but probably a little too fast. He lets Jared’s wrist go and carefully settles his jacket back across his chest.

“Jared,” he tries again, raising his voice this time. “Jay, wake up.”

Jared’s eyes open a crack. He blinks slowly a few times, looking slightly dazed. “There you are,” Jensen says, deliberately keeping his tone light. “How bad are you feeling?”

“I - I dunno.” Jared’s voice is hoarse, and he winces when he swallows. Jensen adds a sore throat to the growing mental list of things that are wrong.

Jensen runs a hand through his hair. There are questions he wants to ask, like how long has Jared been feeling this bad and why didn’t he say something sooner, but now’s not the time for any of that. For now, he needs to know how bad it is. The rest can wait. “How do you feel?”

“I feel… weird.” Jared’s raspy voice sounds strangely distant, flat. Like all the energy has been drained out of him.

“What are your symptoms?” Jensen asks, mouth pressed into a thin line as Jared suddenly starts coughing. The coughs sound wet, coming from deep in Jared’s chest, and Jensen’s becoming increasingly worried.

“I don’t know. Don’t feel good,” Jared mumbles when the coughing fit finally subsides.

“Jared, what are your symptoms?” Jensen repeats, trying not to sound as urgent as he’s starting to feel. Beside him, Chad impatiently shifts from one foot to the other.

Jared says, “I don’t know how to describe it.”

“If you don’t tell us we can’t help you.” He does not say that they might not be able to help him no matter what he says. They all know it.

Jared frowns, like he’s trying to focus. “No energy. Hot and then cold. Then hot again.” He brings up his arm and coughs into his elbow. “Hard to.” He stops and coughs again. “Breathe right.”

“And you have one hell of a nasty cough,” Chad adds. Jensen looks up at him sharply and Chad simply shrugs one shoulder. 

Jared doesn’t react. He closes his eyes and falls silent again. Jensen starts to sit down, but Chad nudges him in the leg with his foot. Jensen looks up and Chad gestures for Jensen to follow him.

Jensen gets to his feet and follows Chad over to the makeshift table. Chad folds his arms across his chest and says, “What do you think?”

He glances back over at Jared, who appears to already be lightly dozing again. “I think he’s been sicker than he’s been letting on for at least a few days.”

Chad hums in agreement. “So what now?”

“We need something to bring down his fever.” Jensen frowns and reaches across the table for their bag of meager medical supplies. He yanks it open and rifles through it. There’s bandages, tape, some gauze, and a few mostly empty bottles of Advil and some prescription painkillers. He suddenly feels like he’s going to be sick. He sets the bag back down on the table and looks over at Chad. There’s nothing but sympathy in Chad’s eyes.

“What are we going to do?” Chad asks.

“One of us has to go into the city and look for some medicine,” Jensen says. He doesn’t want to leave Jared, but it’s the only thing that can be done. His fever is too high; his breathing too labored. Every moment counts. 

Chad takes the impossible decision away from him. “I’ll leave in a few minutes.”

*

Chad’s already stuffing a few provisions into his backpack when Jensen joins him after checking on Jared again. “Here,” Jensen says, holding out his handgun.

Chad glances down at the gun in Jensen’s hand and then shakes his head. “Keep it.”

“We haven’t seen a zombie around here in weeks,” Jensen starts out.

“I don’t care,” Chad hisses. “You keep it. You need it more than I do. In case some zombies come through here, or people show up, or…” He trails off. “Just keep it. I’ve got the rifle and my gun. That’s enough.” 

“What about Jared’s gun?”

A muscle starts twitching in Chad’s jaw. “Keep that one too.”

“You’re more likely to see trouble out in the city than we are here.”

“I’ll be fine. I can slip in and out of the city with no problems. I’m like a ninja,” Chad says with a wolfish grin. 

“Chad, I’m grateful, really I am. But Jared wouldn’t want anything happening to you over this.”

Chad ducks his head. “Keep the guns. Protect our boy.” Chad clears his throat before he meets Jensen’s eyes and continues. “Tell me again what to look for.”

Jensen holds his gaze for a long moment but sees no trace of hesitation there. Finally, he nods and tucks his gun back into the waistband of his pants. “Anything that might bring his fever down,” Jensen begins. “Acetaminophen.” At the blank look on Chad’s face, Jensen amends, “Tylenol.” Chad nods. “Ibuprofen. Aspirin. Hell, baby aspirin, if it’s all you can find.” 

“Okay. Got it. What about for the cough?”

This part is harder because they don’t know what exactly is wrong with Jared. It could be the flu or bronchitis. It could already be pneumonia. It’s possible Jared has some type of virus that antibiotics won’t help. There’s too much guessing involved and they don’t have a lot of options. 

It’s hard for his mind not to automatically jump to all of the worst case scenarios when their lives seem to revolve around everything going from bad to worse to FUBAR before they ever get a chance to stop and catch their breaths. “Antibiotics. Whatever you can find. Penicillin. Levaquin. Basically, look for anything with an -in at the end of it. And then grab anything else you see, just in case.”

Chad slings his backpack over his shoulder. “I can do that.”

Jensen bites his bottom lip and looks over at Jared again. “I don’t really think I need to say this part, but...”

“I’ll hurry,” Chad assures him.

Jensen slaps Chad on the back and nods his thanks, not trusting himself to speak. Chad pulls him into a quick one-armed hug. “He’s gonna be okay. He’s too damn stubborn not to be.”

Jensen gives a watery chuckle. “I hope you’re right.”

“I always am,” Chad says. “Take care of our boy.”

Chad knew Jared first and has always resented Jensen on some level, but he is trusting him with this. Trusting him with Jared. After everything. “I will.” 

It’s a promise he intends to keep. 

**Author's Note:**

> This piece was something that I had always planned to write as part of this story, but the coronavirus inspired me to go ahead and write it sooner than I probably would have. I am not trying to be insensitive to the outbreak and all those affected by it, but it's something that's been on my mind a lot lately. I am a nurse so it's something I am dealing with every day. That being said, Jared does not have anything like COVID-19, this is just meant to be a bit of hurt/comfort between the boys. I hope some people enjoy the update. I've missed writing about these boys. Take care and stay safe.
> 
> Update: For anyone wondering or waiting for an update to this, it's half finished, but I eventually just lost my muse on finishing it. It seemed like no one was interested, and then I lost interest myself. So I feel this part works as a standalone. Thank you to those that did enjoy reading about these boys <3 I like to think that they're out there somewhere, still getting through the apocalypse together.


End file.
